Market numbers : October 16, 2009

| North American markets | International markets | Bonds | Currency | Commodities |

The Toronto stock market appeared heading for a negative open Friday morning as oil prices declined, Canadian inflation headed lower and earnings from the American financial sector weighed on sentiment.

The Canadian dollar was lower for a second day, down 0.54 of a cent to 96.13 cents US as Statistics Canada reported that the consumer price index slid by one-tenth of a point last month to minus 0.9 % matching a 53-year low that was also recorded in July. The inflation rate in August was minus-0.8 %.

Much lower gasoline prices kept the overall index down but “this will most likely be the low-water mark for inflation, as the steep slide in pump prices late last year will start falling out of the calculation, and headline inflation is poised to move back into positive terrain quite quickly in the months ahead,” said BMO Capital Markets deputy chief economist Doug Porter.

Aside from energy, the annual inflation in Canada was well above zero in September at 1.3 %.

New York futures were in the red following earnings reports from General Electric and Bank America, with the Dow Jones industrial futures off 37 points to 9,927, Nasdaq futures down 5.5 points to 1,743 and the S&P 500 futures declined 4.6 points to 1,085.2.

GE posted a 44% decline in profit to US$2.4 billion, or 23 cents per share, hurt by much lower earnings at its GE Capital arm, which lends money to businesses ranging from credit cards to shopping centres.

GE divisions that build dishwashers, sonogram machines, locomotives and wind turbines posted a modest profit increase.

Despite better industrial results in the latest quarter, GE’s overall revenue fell 20% to US$37.8 billion.

Shares of the company fell 39 cents, or 2.3%, to $16.40 in pre-market trade.

And Bank of America said it lost more than US$2 billion after preferred dividends in the third quarter, steeper than what analysts had been expecting. The bank also set aside more than US$11 billion to offset bad loans, US$5 billion more than in the year-ago period. Its shares were down 89 cents to US$17.22 in the pre-market.

IBM Corp. shares were down $4.66 to US$123.23 in pre-market trading even as the company jacked up its profit guidance for the second time this year.

Net income was US$3.2 billion, or $2.40 per share, ahead of analysts’ expectation for $2.38 per share but sales in global services, hardware and software were down slightly from a year ago.

Solid earnings reports from Google Inc., and chip maker Advanced Micro Devices after the closing bell Thursday lent some support to the market.

The November crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange eased 28 cents to US$77.30 a barrel after data showing sharply lower U.S. gasoline inventories pushed oil to a one-year high on Thursday.

Metal prices were also soft as the December bullion contract on the Nymex faded $3.80 to US$1,046.80 an ounce while December copper lost four cents to US$2.82 a pound.

Asian stocks were mixed Friday, largely failing to follow through after the Dow Jones industrials closed above 10,000 points for a second day as a monthslong rally lost steam.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.2%.

Stocks in India rose 0.8% and Taiwan gained 0.1% while China’s Shanghai index fell 0.1% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.3%.

London’s FTSE 100 index slipped 0.36%, Frankfurt’s DAX lost 0.5% and the Paris CAC 40 was off 0.65%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

Back to Top

Dow Jones	10,062.94	+47.08 or +0.47%	+14.66%
S&P 500	1,096.56	+4.54 or +0.42%	+21.40%
NASDAQ	2,173.29	+1.06 or +0.05%	+37.81%
TSX Composite	11,504.51	-28.27 or -0.25%	+28.00%

International markets

Back to Top

	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,257.56	+18.91 or +0.18%	+15.78%
Hang Seng	21,929.90	-69.18 or -0.31%	+52.42%
SENSEX	17,322.82	+127.62 or +0.74%	+79.56%
FTSE 100	5,206.00	-16.95 or -0.32%	+17.41%
CAC 40	3,850.67	-33.16 or -0.85%	+19.66%
DAX	5,787.72	-43.05 or -0.74%	+20.32%

Bonds

Back to Top

Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.66	101.83	3.54
Cdn. 30-year bond	116.75	117.00	3.99
U.S. 10-year bond	101.39	101.72	3.46
U.S. 30-year bond	103.37	103.87	4.30

Currency

Back to Top

BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9613	0.9747
US $	1.0402	1.0259

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6470	0.6534
Euro	1.5455	1.5305

Commodities

Back to Top

Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$1047.75	$1053.50

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$77.57	-$0.01 or -0.01%

(10/16/09)